The response to the capture of American captain Richard Phillips was military: Snipers on the guided missile destroyer Bainbridge pulled off the astonishingly tricky task of shooting and killing three pirates in their lifeboat as it was being towed behind the warship. "It's an annoying set of enemies because they're too big for the cops and too small for a conventional stand-up military." "We've clearly got a variety of enemies that are larger than street gangs and smaller than countries," said John Pike, director of in Alexandria, Va. Concerns that the crisis would escalate and spread, sending shockwaves through the global economy.Ĭhange ethnicity, ideology and goals and the same descriptions could apply to Hezbollah in Lebanon, to insurgent groups in Iraq or even to violent drug cartels in Mexico - all irregular forces that have at times stymied conventional foes. Innocent civilians - in this case the hostage captain - close by and at risk of being caught in the crossfire. A small number of relatively lightly armed combatants unaffiliated with any nation. Last week's crisis included some familiar ingredients. "The military we've bought isn't the one that's ideal for this kind of challenge," said Stephen Biddle, a senior fellow for defense policy at the Council on Foreign Relations.
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